Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has hailed the government of China for allegedly denying President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga Sh368 billion loan.
The loan meant for the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Naivasha to Kisumu was allegedly declined because Kenya could not account for past funding.
Khalwale, who is allied to Deputy President William Ruto, said that the Kenyan government has borrowed a lot of money from China but it cannot account for each of them.
He also claimed that the loan was meant to please Kenyans in some regions at the expense of others.
“We thank China for declining to give Kenya a suspect over 360 billion loan. Desperate for maintaining a strangle hold on his Nyanza constituents, @RailaOdinga wanted to hoodwink locals with billions worth of SGR way leave compensation. SGR is ONLY viable as an EAC project. Period!” he said on Saturday through his official Twitter account.
Foreign Affairs CS Monica Juma has, however, dismissed claims that the government was denied the loan.
She insisted that Kenya shares many things with China and the loan was not the main reason Uhuru and Raila traveled to China.
“Strange headlines out of Nairobi today! The relationship between Kenya and China is broader than the SGR. In fact, the SGR extension beyond Naivasha was never a priority agenda for the current mission to Beijing," read her message on Twitter.